Gen 11:2 found a plain in the land of S
Shinar (Heb. Shinâr, “land of the rivers”). 1. Country of Babylon, since the Babylonian cities of Babel, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, 2 of which are well known, were located there (Gen 10:10; 11:2). There is also little doubt that the Shinar of Dan 1:2 and Zec 5:11 are Babylon, but there is no certainty as to whether Isa 11:11 refers to Babylon or one of the places with the same name that appear in Shinar. 2. In cuneiform documents this name has not been found as a designation for Babylon. 2. Country from which Amraphel* was one of the monarchs who invaded Transjordan in the days of Abraham (Gen 14:1, 9). Many commentators have in the past identified Amraphel’s Shinar with Babylon, but the discovery that other ancient countries were also called Shinar has cast doubt on this conclusion. Cuneiform texts mention a place they call Shanhara, and they place it in a region that is in the north of Mesopotamia and east of Nineveh, considered to be the mountainous area that today is called Jebel Sinjar. On the other hand, the Amarna Letters* mention a kingdom of Shanhar (No 35, line 49) which, according to Knudtzon and Th. de Liagre Böhl would have been in the area of northern Syria. Perhaps the kingdom of Amrafel should be identified with this site. Bib.: JA Knudtzon, Die El-Amarna Tafeln 1105 (Leipzig, 1915), pp 1081, 1082; FM Th. de Liagre Böhl, Opera Minora (Groningen, 1953), p 45.
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
The region encompassed the cities of Babel, Erech (compare modern Iraq), Akkad, and Calneh (Gen 10:10), the location of which, with the exception of Akkad, is unknown. Shinar, on the Babylonian floodplain, was for many centuries perhaps the most fertile region on earth. The early postdiluvians traveled east and began building a tower there (Gen 11:1-9). Amraphel, king of Shinar, invaded Canaan in the days of Abraham (Gen 14:1). Nebuchadnezzar was the ruler of the land of Shinar (Dan 1:2), and is mentioned in two prophecies (Isa 11:11; Zec 5:11).
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
Biblical Shinar was the territory in which the great cities of Erech, *Akkad, and *Babylon were located. (Gen. 10:10). The name Shinar was used to designate the place to which the Jews were exiled (Is. 11:11; Dan. 1:2). The Septuagint identifies Shinar with Babylon. Although the territory around Baghdad is known as Sen†™ar, in Syriac, no ancient Semitic name for Babylon corresponding to Shinar is known. However, the identification of their cities leaves no doubt that biblical Shinar is the territory that later comprised Babylon.
Source: Archaeological Biblical Dictionary
Southern region of Mesopotamia where Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, was built. Scientists call it Sumer. It was the scene of the exploits of †¢Nimrod, †“who became the first mighty on earth† , who founded the cities of †¢Babel, Erech, Akkad and Calneh (Gen 10:8-10). It was there that the tower of Babel was built (Gen 11:1-9). Amraphel, king of S., was an ally of Chedorlaomer in the victory against Sodom, Gomorrah and other allied cities (Gen 14:1-2). Nebuchadnezzar brought the exiles from Judah to S., with the vessels and utensils of the †¢temple (Dan 1:1-2), but God promised the return to Israel of those exiles (Jer 29:10).
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
type, COUNTRY
sit, a4, 480, 280
vet, Country where the cities of Babel, Erec, Acad, Calne were raised (Gn. 10:10; 11:2; Dn. 1:2). This term denotes the Babylonian floodplain. Ancient Sumer lay downstream in this region. In Abraham’s time, Amraphel ruled over this whole country, or at least over a large part of it (Gen. 14:1, 9). Much later the Jews were taken captive there (Is. 11:11; Zech. 5:11).
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Original name of the area located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and which was later called Babylon. In this place Nimrod became king of Babel, Erech, Akkad and Calné. Right there, the construction of the temple-tower of Babel was paralyzed. (Ge 10:9, 10; 11:2-8) Later, the king of Shinar, Amraphel, was one of the confederates who took Abraham’s nephew Lot captive. (Ge 14:1, 9, 12) In Joshua’s day this territory was still called by its original name. (Jos 7:21) The prophets Isaiah, Daniel, and Zechariah also mention it. (Isa 11:11; Da 1:2; Zec 5:11; see BABEL; BABYLON No. 2.)
Source: Dictionary of the Bible
The land where the great cities of Babel, Erec and Acad were located (Gn. 10.10). It was located on a plain where immigrants arrived in primitive times who founded the city and the tower of Babel (Gen. 11.2), and it was a place of exile for the Jews (Is. 11.11; Dn. 1.2). The LXX interprets it as “Babylon” (Is. 11.11) or “the land of Babylon” (Zac. 5.11), which agrees with the location suggested by Gn. 10.10. (* Akkad or Agade, who gave her name to N Babylon.) Heb. šin˓ār represents the sanbar from the cuneiform texts of the Hittite and Syrian scribal schools of the 2nd millennium BC, and there is no doubt that it was a name for Babylon, perhaps a Hurrian form of Sumer. This comparison is demonstrated by several texts (see HG Güterbock, JCS 18, 1964, pp. 3), which allows older ideas to be discarded.
DJW
Douglas, J. (2000). New Biblical Dictionary: First Edition. Miami: United Bible Societies.
Source: New Bible Dictionary